Here at Georgetown, we love to create clubs. We’ve got clubs for creative writers, aspiring political leaders, aca-tastic a cappella-ers, dancers, and a crap load of other people. But there’s one thing we don’t have: a club for flat-earthers. That’s right 4E lovers, this week’s WikiWhat? article is on the Flat Earth Society.
We often associate the “flat earth” idea with pre-classical Greece but, today, the Flat Earth Society is dedicated to furthering the belief that the earth is flat instead of being an ‘oblate spheroid.’ The society, established in 1956 by Samuel Shenton, exists in its modern form thanks to Daniel Shenton (no relation) who resurrected the organization in 2004. At its peak, during previous administration, it had about 3,000 due-paying members, but today holds a modest (but dedicated) 420 people.
Here’s some questions that come to mind:
Q: Couldn’t you fall off of the Earth if it were were flat?
A: Most recently, the FES has advocated that humanity lives on a disc with the North Pole at its center and a 150 ft. (45 m.) wall of ice at its outer edge. Some members, however, believe that the Earth is an infinite plane.
Q: How do you explain how gravity works, then?
A: Some say that gravity doesn’t exist. Others say that the earth is a finite plane accelerating upwards at 9.8 m/s2. (Makes sense…)
Q: How did Ferdinand Magellan, and countless others after him, circumnavigate the world?
A: There’s no information on an explanation for this, but let’s just assume that they’ve found a way to debunk circumnavigators’ claims.
Q:Why has the society (aka Daniel Shenton) been tweeting for the past two years with only 2 subscribers (one of which is me)?
A: We’ll let you speculate on that one…
Q: And, finally, why am I a subscriber of their twitter?
A: I’m an intellectually risky person and proud of it. (Felt bad for the guy…)
You SFS-ers might want to rethink your Map of the Modern World classes.
